Frustration and Aggression: Strive for Satisfaction

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Humans are born striving to catch a breath, eat some food, quench their thirst, feel affection, be able to fend for their mind and body; take care of one’s self. There is a term often referred to by Hobbes as survival machines (Pinker 2011). We are each a survival machine, created with the instinct to supply ourselves with our needs in the most efficient and safest way possible for us individually, and only to put one’s self at risk when the benefits outweigh the gains. Humans are born with the capacity for violence; it is not invented but rather, instigated. Violence does not always lead to warfare but is a form of conflict that given certain influences can manifest into warfare. I strongly agree with the argument that warfare has played a key role in human evolution, leading to part of our nature as a species. Secure satisfaction is the key to a society free of warfare. Due to various factors in life, this satisfaction is unattainable, thus leading to frustration, aggression, violence, and in time, warfare. Given a desperate context, a conflict for the attainment of needs, or a survival instinct involving violence; warfare is present in any society around the globe. Regardless of culture, context, or level of development. I am going to discuss Hobbes’s three reasons for quarrel that justify how all human beings strive for the same ideals. Furthermore, I will discuss the more clearly observed examples of warfare when there are situations of desperation and what variables forage conflict. Lastly, I will bring to light the other side of this argument, explaining how due to change of perspective, a different conclusion is made but all humans are born with the same yearns for satisfaction. This is an undeniable point that cannot be m...

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... being learned. Humans are animals with hormones and survival instincts that are not created by situations but rather instigated by situations.
Humans do not necessarily have intent to hurt, but given no choice, will do what it takes to survive, just as one has since the moment they struggled to catch their first breath.

References Cited
Chagnon, Napoleon. A.
1988 Life histories, blood revenge, and warfare in a tribal population. Science 239(4843): 985-992.
Davies, James C.
1970 Violence and Aggression: Innate or Not? The Western Political Quarterly 23 (3): 611-623. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/446577
Dollard, John.
1939 Frustration and Aggression, United States, New Haven.
Mead, Margaret.
1940 Warfare is only an invention—not a biological necessity. Asia 40(8): 402-405.
Pinker, Stephan.
2011 The Better Angels of Our Nature, United States, Viking Books.

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